Working with Schools & Colleges

Getting Mathematics Undergraduates into Schools

Leicester's Mathematics undergraduates are involved in the Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme (UAS) and the Student Associates Scheme, whereby students are placed in schools and inspire and encourage students there. UAS is incorporated into the module MA3511 Communicating Mathematics and as such may be chosen as part of the Mathematics degree course. If you are a mathematics teacher in Leicester or Leicestershire and would like to get involved with either UAS or the Student Associate Scheme then please contact Prof Nicole Snashall.

Mathematics Newsletter to Schools

We also have a mathematics newsletter to schools to have more fun with mathematics. You can find all the editions here.

Talks at Schools

Our academics like to share their enthusiasm and fun with mathematics with the public and especially with schools. If you like to arrange for a mathematics outreach talk at a school please contact Dr Frank Neumann. On this page you will find some sample talks and their topics.

Coming soon:

Mathematics Masterclasses

For more information please contact Dr Frank Neumann. Information for Mathematics Masterclasses will be advertised normally here. Previous events were in conjunction with the Royal Institution in London. Watch this space for upcoming events.!

Previous Events:

Year 12 and Year 13 Problem Solving courses 2014/15: They took place in collaboration with the Further Mathematics Support Programme (FMSP). More information about these and the the ones for 2015/16 can be found here.

G-STEM 2013 Year 12 Conference 2013:Ittook place in June 2013 on the University of Leicester campus. The maths programme included activities and talks on the topology of shapes and the maths behind Rubik's Cube. More info here.

National Science and Engineering Week 2013: A series of events were held during March at the University, open to all school age pupils. The NSEW 2013 took place between 15 March and 24 March 2013 at the University of Leicester campus. We from mathematics offered two exciting sessions Math and Magic and Math and Juggling. Here are the photos from this years event 'Math and Magic' show at 'The Square' in the Students Union. It was also covered by the Leicester Mercury here. Watch this space for information about 2014!

Royal Institution Year 8 and 9 Masterclasses 2013 and 2012: These took place on six Saturdays in February and March at the University of Leicester and at the National Space Centre. These are organised together with the Royal Institution and the National Space Centre.

The UK Open 2012 Speedcubing Championship: It took place on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of November 2012 at the O2 Academy situated in the University of Leicester Students' Union. Speedcubing is the activity of solving Rubik's cube or a related puzzle as quickly as possible. There were also other events such as blindfolded, one-handed and larger puzzles such as the 5x5x5 cube. The event consisted of the biggest official Speedcubing competition in the UK to date - with 93 competitors from 9 different countries. An impressive line-up of Mathematical activities throughout the weekend, sponsored by the Department of Mathematics, was open to the public. On both days, academics from the Department of Mathematics were available for visitors to talk about mathematics at Leicester, careers in mathematics, and various interesting applications of Mathematics, from game theory to juggling. You could also try your hand at the four recreational mathematical problems written especially for the event, with prizes available for solutions. During lunch on Saturday the renowned Professor David Singmaster talked about Mathematics & Rubik's cube. David is most famous for his solution to Rubik's cube which he published in 1981; and his conjecture that there is a finite upper bound on the number of times a number other than 1 can appear in Pascal's Triangle, which remains unproven. You can read David's wikipedia entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Singmaster.

Archive of The Leicester Maths Wrangler:

Here you can still download all the issues of our former mathematics newsletter 'The Wrangler' with information on the maths we are doing and little brain teasers.